(Antwerp 1601–1678) and (Malines 1600–1652 Antwerp)
An Allegory of Taste,
oil on panel, 58 x 89.1 cm, framed

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution of present painting following first-hand examination (written communication).

Ertz writes: ‘The condition of the present painting can be said to be excellent. The colours, which are typical of Jan Brueghel the Younger in particular, have been applied in overlapping glazes and make a good impression. They show a thick impasto and are characteristic of the 1640s.’ As to the subject – a narrative allegory extremely rich in detail – he points out: ‘Despite the pleasure taken in the depiction of abundance, to which the erotic or sexual component of good food has been added in the form of the oysters and the female figure’s revealing garments, the vanitas component of the biblical theme alludes to the fleetingness and unimportance of sensual delights, in the sense of: “everything is vain illusion”.

The present painting is based on the Allegory of Taste in the Prado, Madrid (inv. no. 1397), a joint product by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens dated to 1618. However, the present painting is not simply a copy, but reveals the son’s independent personality as an artist. Ertz comments upon this aspect: ‘After his father’s death, Jan Brueghel the Younger took over the studio and continued to work in his father’s unmistakable manner until well into the 1630s. In their superb quality and craftsmanship, these paintings hardly differ from those by his father. It was not until the mid-1630s – and initially only rudimentarily – that he arrived at his own, personal style. Many of his compositions may be regarded as his own inventions. He can be distinguished from his father primarily by a slightly subdued palette. His brushwork appears to be altogether more painterly and vivacious, and he no longer painstakingly traces each and every tiny detail.’ With regard to the collaboration between two artists in one painting, Ertz points out: ‘Although a figure painter added his staffage to Jan’s columned space, the whole depiction appears to be “all of a single piece”. The fact that several painters collaborated in a work of art will only surprise those unfamiliar with Flemish art. In the first half of the 17th century, it was quite common that several artists specialising in different genres created impressively homogeneous works, most of all in Antwerp. The painting to be assessed is another excellent example in the long list of works of co-production between several artists.’ In the present painting, the four large figures in the foreground are by the hand of Pieter van Avont.

Ertz compares the present painting to the following works by Jan Brueghel II:

(1) An Allegory of Taste (American private collection, shortly after 1626, with a collaborator from the circle of Peter Paul Rubens)
(2) A Garland of Fruit Surrounding the Virgin and Child (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 1630s)
(3) A Floral Garland around Christ and Mary Magdalene (private collection, 1630s)
(4) Flora and Putti in the Gardens of a Palace (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1630s),
(5) The Holy Family with John the Baptist and Angels in a Landscape (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1630s)

Apart from the first one all pictures being compared are joint products by Jan Brueghel the Younger and Pieter van Avont. On the basis of these comparisons and the resulting stylistic resemblances, Ertz dates the present Allegory of Taste to around 1640.